Isaiah 14:24-32 Messages concerning Assyria and Philistia

by Larry Ferrell | March 9, 2018
Concerning Assyria: This short oracle provides the transition from the general treatment of worldly pomp and power, symbolized by Babylon (13:1-14:23), to the concrete and particular expressions of it in Isaiah’s own day which now follow. First in line, naturally enough is Assyria. In its size, its arrogance, and its oppressive imperialism it was the manifestation of the spirit of Babel in the eighth century BC. In one sense there is nothing new here, since the downfall of Assyria has already been treated at length in 10:5-34. But one feature of the present oracle is particularly noteworthy, namely, the tremendous emphasis that is laid here on the Lord’s sovereign purpose which nothing can annul or frustrate. The plan of the Lord has as its first objective the deliverance of His own people (v. 25), but it also concerns the whole of the world and all nations (v. 26). The destruction of Assyria will simply be one manifestation of it, as will the judgments on other nations announced in the following chapters.

Great care is needed, of course, in moving from a passage like this to the particulars of our own day. The way the rise and fall of specific nations fit into God’s sovereign purposes is not revealed to us with the clarity that it was to Isaiah. But the spirit of Babylon is certainly still with us, and if we take revelation 18 as our cue, will be until the very consummation of history. God’s purposes for His people and for the world are still advancing, and as the reflex to that, His wrath is constantly “being revealed … against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (see Rom. 1:18). Jesus himself spoke of apparently “natural” events such as war, famine and earthquake as signs of the end (Matt. 24:4-8). So while we lack the kind of detailed knowledge that Isaiah had, we do have warrant to seeing his oracles against the nations as illustrating a general truth about history. Every collapse of a proud, immoral regime in our world too is an interim day of the Lord, in route to the final day.

Concerning Philistia: In contrast to the wise and invincible plan of the Lord are the foolhardy plans concocted by men who refuse to acknowledge the Lord. The attempt to implement one such plan clearly provided the setting for this oracle, which is precisely dated to the year King Ahaz died, 715 BC (v. 28). Assyria was still suffering internal instability following the death of Shalmaneser III in 721 BC, and rebellion was in the air in southern Palestine. Philistia was already party to an anti-Assyrian conspiracy headed by Egypt (see chapter 20), and in 715 BC there was apparently an attempt to involve the new king of Judah, Hezekiah. Isaiah was totally opposed to any participation by Judah, as his words in verse 32b make abundantly clear. The only refuge for the people of Zion was in the Lord. This was his consistent message in crisis after crisis. If God’s people looked to the nations for their salvation instead of to Him they could only come to ruin. Plans which did not spring from faith were recipes for disaster.

Hezekiah appears to have heeded Isaiah’s warning on this occasion, and just as well! It was not long before the Assyrian army moved in strength against Philistia (as predicted in v. 31), which suffered the bitter consequences of its action, as did Egypt. Judah as a non-participant in the rebellion was spared. The very colorful image in verse 29 perhaps refers specifically to the death of Shalmaneser III and the rise, in his place, of Sargon II. Whether this is so or not, the general import of the verse is clear. The weakness of Assyria around 715 BC was not the prelude to its demise, as the conspirators had fondly hoped. In fact it was just about to come to its full strength in Sargon, Sennasherib and Esarhaddon. The poor and needy of verse 30a are the hard-pressed people of Judah (see 32b). They will be kept safe if they look to the Lord. But for Philistia there is no hope at all (v. 30b).

Isaiah 14:24-32 Reflection Questions:
Applying these messages to your personal world, what is the Lord saying to you?
In your daily and major decisions are you relying on others or are you relying on the Lord?
What are you doing to continue building your personal relationship with God?
What are some current examples of the “spirit of Babylon”?

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Philippians 3:10-11 Knowing the Living Christ

by Larry Ferrell | March 23, 2018
There are many things that distinguish Christianity from other world religions, but one of the most significant distinctions is this: Christians believe that Jesus rose again from the dead after having been crucified and that he lives today to be known by those who trust Him. The Jesus who was born in Bethlehem two thousand years ago, who lived, who died, and who rose again, still lives. Consequently, to know Him personally, intimately, and experientially is the first and greatest goal of the believer’s life. This was Paul’s goal also, and Philippians 3:10-11 is a great expression of it. Paul has spoken of his initial faith in Christ. He now speaks of the goal of Christian living. Paul wanted to know Jesus. As he writes about his desire, the nature of that knowledge is plain.

In the first place, the knowledge Paul sought was experiential. We must see this aspect of his statement clearly, for without this understanding of Paul’s desire the verses themselves are meaningless. Paul wanted to know Jesus in the truest biblical sense – personally and experientially. And he wanted this to affect his day-by-day living. Consequently, having been saved wholly and solely by Christ, Paul wants to enter into the deepest possible union with Him. There is only one inexhaustible person, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. People disappoint us, but Jesus never will. It is entirely satisfying to know him.

Paul’s desire did not stop merely with the knowledge of Christ. He also wished to know his power. Here Paul speaks of experience. He states that, in addition to knowing about the resurrection, he also wants to experience its power. Paul knew that this power could overcome sin and death and that it was far more potent than Rome’s armies. The power of Jesus Christ is a great reality. Paul wanted to experience the resurrection power of Jesus Christ over sin daily as he strived to live a holy life before God.

The third thing that Paul says he wished to know of Jesus Christ was “the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.” This does not mean that Paul wished to suffer for human sin, for only Jesus Christ could do that. He alone suffered innocently and therefore for others. Paul wished to join in Christ’s suffering in a different sense. He wished to stand with Christ in such and invisible union that when the abuses and persecution that Christ suffered also fell on him, as he knew they would, he could receive them as Jesus did. He wanted to react like Jesus, for he knew that abuse received like this would actually draw him closer to his Lord. Such sufferings will always come to the Christian. Paul speaks of Christ’s obedience in death and holds it up as a pattern for all Christian conduct. He argues that Jesus was so careful to obey his Father that he laid aside his outward mantle of glory and took to himself human form and nature, enduring all the sufferings of this world, and that he even died as a man in obedience to his Father’s will. The fellowship of Christ’s sufferings is won at a price of such radical and total obedience.

In the last phrase of this great expression of Paul’s goals Paul tells why he desires to know Christ so completely and to be like him in his death. It is that he might “attain to the resurrection from the dead.” We must not understand this to mean that Paul was afraid for his eternal security. Paul knows that God will bring him safely to heaven (see Rom. 8:38-39; Phil 1:6). Paul is not thinking in these terms; he is thinking about something else. Actually, he is saying that he wishes to be so much like Christ in the way he lived that people would think of him as a resurrected person even now, even before his death. Or to put it another way, “As I walk your streets, as I walk into you homes, as I walk into your stores, as I walk into your offices, as I mingle among the sons of men, I want to be so living for Christ, so outstanding for him that you can see that I am a living one among the dead ones.” This is God’s greatest purpose in saving you.

Philippians 3:10-11 Reflection Questions:
Do you have the desire to know Jesus intimately, to awake with Him in the morning and to live each day with Him and in His presence?
In what ways do you experience the resurrection power of Jesus Christ daily?
Are you careful to obey God completely, even at the expense of open persecution and real suffering?
Is it your desire to be so living for Christ that you will appear as a resurrected person among those who are spiritually dead?

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